Biden Administration to Spend $1.7 Billion to Track Variants

President Joe Biden’s administration is allocating $1.7 billion in funding to track the spread of Covid-19 variants, which are proving dangerous as they spread quickly and risk dragging out the pandemic.

Biden will direct $1 billion to genomic sequencing, which helps federal agencies and states track which version of the virus is spreading. They also announced $400 million for epidemiological research and $300 million for health data and training.

The announcement, with funding from the aid package Biden signed a month ago, comes as mutations of the virus fuel new outbreaks across the U.S. -- especially in the upper ...